The world isn’t a studio Ghibli film (yet), but it’s trying to be

Rest in peace, "very demure, very mindful." A new buzzword-slash-ethos has officially taken over social media: Ghibli-fied.

The internet is obsessed with turning everyday photos into the magical, otherworldly style of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation powerhouse. For the uninitiated, the studio is an award-winning Japanese animation studio co-founded by well-known animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. Founded in 1985, the studio is the creative force behind more than 20 films and is perhaps best known for its Oscar-winning anime features, The Boy and the Heron and Spirited Away.

In terms of Ghibli-fied images, it means flipping mundane selfies into glowing pastel skies, towering enchanted trees, and serene fields that look like they’ve been ripped straight from a Hayao Miyazaki film. With its perfect mix of nostalgia and whimsy, the signature aesthetic has become the new playground for AI creativity—and people can’t seem to get enough.

Where did it all start?

Earlier this week, OpenAI rolled out its latest AI upgrade of the "most advanced image generator yet". The tool is designed to produce “precise, accurate, photorealistic outputs,” but turns out it is quite proficient in replicating hand-drawn-style portraits and surreal landscapes inspired by Ghibli’s iconic look.

The timing perfectly coincided with a policy shift at OpenAI: alongside the ChatGPT update, the company relaxed its rules on the types of images users can generate. For the first time, users can now create images of adult public figures, and ChatGPT’s filters have been adjusted to reduce the likelihood of rejecting prompts, even if the content risks being offensive. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the shift as “a new high-water mark for us in allowing creative freedom.”

“People are going to create some really amazing stuff and some stuff that may offend people,” Altman said in a post on X. “What we'd like to aim for is that the tool doesn't create offensive stuff unless you want it to, in which case within reason it does.”

The Internet responds

Unsurprisingly, users quickly began testing the limits of this new creative freedom, including the “distracted boyfriend,” the “bro explaining” meme (pic below) and the infamous image of Ben Affleck smoking. Another viral X post had platform owner Elon Musk, playing with cutlery—an image based on the recent video of the billionaire balancing spoons during a dinner hosted by Trump in New Jersey.
 

Photo: The “bro explaining” meme in Studio Ghibli-style AI illustration by X account @PJaccetturo

Predictably, brands wasted no time jumping on the bandwagon. Airbus, for example, shared a Ghibli-fied rendition of its BelugaXL plane, linking the trend to the studio’s love for flight.

#Ghibli stories have always celebrated flight — its freedom, its elegance, its soul.
So, obviously, our #BelugaXL had to join the trend.

How do you see the Airbus Family in Ghibli? Share in comments! pic.twitter.com/TisShO4MDT

— Airbus (@Airbus) March 27, 2025

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Moves Of Marketing (@movesofmarketing)
 

Someone even Ghibli-fied the trailer for Lord of the Rings.

Open AI CEO Sam Altman himself couldn’t resist getting in on the action. He Ghibli-fied his X profile picture (below) and quipped, “Grind for a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whatever. Mostly, no one cares for the first 7.5 years, then for 2.5 years, everyone hates you for everything. Wake up one day to hundreds of messages: 'Look I made you into a twink ghibli style haha.'”

Well, Altman, the internet has its own priorities. 

And it wouldn’t be a proper internet moment without a side of political absurdity. Naturally, the White House joined the fray because when you think Studio Ghibli, “law enforcement putting someone in handcuffs” is the first thing that comes to mind. Their verified X account posted an AI-generated image (see below) referencing a picture of a 36-year-old woman from the Dominican Republic crying after being arrested by ICE.

https://t.co/PVdINmsHXs pic.twitter.com/Bw5YUCI2xL

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 27, 2025

The post has been viewed more than 45 million times on X, many have called it “evil” and “ghastly”.

Ethical debate

As with all things generative AI, the Ghibli-fied craze hasn’t come without controversy. OpenAI’s servers buckled under the demand, forcing Altman to announce temporary rate limits for free-tier users “It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT. But our GPUs are melting,” he posted on X, adding that free-tier users would soon be limited to three generations per day. 

Cue the collective groan of frustrated fans, many of whom are already side-eyeing AI-generated art for all its ethical baggage. And there's no bigger AI critic than the 84-year-old Hayao Miyazaki himself. A 2016 video of the master animator resurfaced this week, showing his staunch disapproval during an AI art demo.

“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” he said, looking like he’d just witnessed his worst nightmare. 

Miyazaki’s disdain has been echoed by some artists, who see the Ghibli-fied trend as cheapening the studio’s artistry. “It’s profoundly depressing seeing all the Studio Ghibli-styled AI output tacitly being used to promote OpenAI’s latest product,” author Brian Merchant wrote on social media, calling it nothing less than an insult to one of animation’s greatest legends.

The rise of AI-generated art has again put questions about copyright infringement front and centre. Just weeks ago, nearly 4,000 people signed an open letter urging Christie’s auction house to cancel a planned sale of AI-generated art, arguing that LLMs like OpenAI are trained on copyrighted work without proper accreditation or compensation to human artists.

Despite the debate, the Ghibli-fied trend shows no signs of slowing. 

At Campaign Asia, we couldn’t resist exploring the trend ourselves. A few boring office selfies, a touch of AI magic, and voilà—we’re now Miyazaki-esque characters who look like we belong in My Neighbour Totoro (or at least lurking in the background).

Is it frivolous? Absolutely. Maybe even unsettling. But if AI can transform the monotony of our desks into Studio Ghibli daydreams and breathe magic into a mundane Friday, it’s hard not to be seduced. However, beneath the pastel skies and glowing meadows, it's integral to remember the actual artists who crafted these worlds by hand—the real heroes whose legacies deserve more than just imitation.

Is this real life or a Miyazaki daydream? Either way, Campaign's managing editor is staying here forever

Campaign's editor Nikita Mishra in an oversized world

 

BRB, Campaign's editorial director Robert Sawatsky and SEA editor Ravi Balakrishnan are wandering through fields of whimsy and nostalgia